The effect of 8 weeks of freestyle swim training on the functional fitness of adults with Down syndrome.
Adults with Down syndrome can gain real fitness through a short, simple swim program.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers put the adults with Down syndrome in a pool three times a week.
Each session lasted 30-40 minutes of freestyle swimming.
They did this for eight weeks straight.
Another the adults got no training and served as the control group.
The team measured body mass, balance, strength, and swim times before and after.
What they found
The swimmers lost weight and gained balance.
Their swim times dropped and their strength rose.
Effect sizes ranged from small to large across all measures.
The control group showed no changes.
Eight weeks was enough to see real fitness gains.
How this fits with other research
Chang et al. (2016) and Fine et al. (2005) both used tech to reward steps.
They showed that reinforcement can boost movement in people with ID.
Horner (2020) proves you can skip the gadgets and still win.
Wehman et al. (2014) tested dose in toddlers with Down syndrome.
They found more sessions meant better outcomes.
Horner (2020) used the same dose logic but for adult fitness, not toddler speech.
Why it matters
You can build a simple swim program for adult clients with Down syndrome.
Three sessions a week for two months is enough to see gains.
No fancy equipment or reinforcers needed.
The pool itself becomes the reinforcer.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Studies conducted on adults with Down syndrome have demonstrated the improvement of functional fitness (aerobic capacity, muscular strength, balance, flexibility, functional ability, body mass or body mass index) with varying exercise modalities but often with one or two components in isolation. Such modalities included walking, running, cycling, rowing or resistance training. Freestyle swim training has shown significant improvements of all parameters associated with functional fitness in the general population. Swimming is an aerobic activity where many of the large muscle groups are involved and may provide more functional fitness benefits. As a consequence, the purpose of our study was to investigate the effect of freestyle swim training on the functional fitness of adults with Down syndrome. METHODS: Twenty-six adults with Down syndrome (33 ± 6 years; 34 ± 9 kg/m2 ) were randomly allocated to an exercise (n = 13; 81.3 kg) or control group (n = 13; 81.5 kg). The exercise group performed 8 weeks of freestyle swim training, three times a week, 30 min per session (increased to 40 min after 4 weeks). To evaluate differences between groups, a one-way analysis of variance was used, controlling for differences at baseline. RESULTS: After 8 weeks of training, the results showed significant differences between the exercise and control group for body mass, body mass index, aerobic capacity, dynamic balance, muscular strength, 12-m swim time and functional ability (P < 0.05). Effect sizes ranged from small to large. CONCLUSIONS: Various components of functional fitness improved significantly after an intervention period of freestyle swim training. The collective improvement of many functional fitness parameters shown by this study may hold benefits for these often-neglected and in many cases functionally impaired individuals.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2020 · doi:10.1111/jir.12768